In the 35th match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore at Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune. After losing McCullum early, RCB needed some activity on the scoreboard and Parthiv Patel was in a mood to make that happen. Captain Virat Kohli was taking some time initially. Overall, after 6 overs RCD fared well on the scoreboard scoring 47 runs with a wicket loss. But Kohli out of the first ball of 7th over. For the star-studded RCB, it will be a must-win encounter if they have to keep their play-off hopes alive.
Here are the squads for both the teams
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) playing XI: Parthiv Patel(wk), Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli(capt), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Murugan Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal. Quinton de Kock, Manan Vohra, Washington Sundar out, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Murugan Ashwin in the team
Chennai Super Kings playing XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(capt&wk), Dhruv Shorey, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, David Willey, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur. Faf du Plessis, KM Asif, Karn Sharma out; Dhruv Shorey, David Willey, Shardul Thakur in the team
RCB over by over
Over1: David Wiley to Parthiv Patel, no run. Inside edge on to pad, another dot ball. Single in the leg side region. Brendon McCullum on the strike. One run taken by McCullum. Leg-bye taken. McCullum hit the last ball for four. RCB: 7/0
Over 2: Lungi Ngidi to Parthiv Patel, inside edge went for single. Wide. McCullum danced down the pitch top edge, OUT. Parthiv Patel a Dot ball. Slogged the 4th ball for four just over mid-on fielder followed by another four in the mid-wicket region. Dot ball to end the over. RCB: 17/1
Over 3: David Wiley to Virat Kohli, Dot ball to start with. Single is taken of the second ball. Parthiv took a single of the 3rd ball. Dot ball. Another single taken. Six by Parthiv to end the over. RCB: 26/1
Over 4: Lungi Nigidi to Kohli, leg bye taken. Parthiv patel 3 dot balls followed by single. Kohli took a risky single if Rayudu missed the direct throw. RCB: 29/1
Over 5: Shardul Thakur to Virat Kohli, dot ball followed by 4 over the bowler head. Another dot ball. Single taken. Pull shot by Parthiv 2 runs. Another short ball, this time went for single.
Over 6: Ngidi to Parthiv, beaten outside off. Slower ball on the pads flicked for 6. Dot ball. Parthiv tried to hit big shot deceived by a slower ball. Another swing and a miss. Slapped the ball in cover for 4 to end the powerplay. RCB: 47/1
RCB innings analysis
Parthiv Patel and Brendon McCullum opened the batting for RCB while David Willey took the bowling charge in the first over. The bowler appealed for LBW in the second ball but umpire turned it down. Slight swing was also seen, compelling Parthiv to change the strike. A boundary came on the last ball by McCullum. Lungi Ngidi came and ended McCullum's inning on his second ball. RCB Captain Virat Kohli came at number three, Parthi swung into action and went for two consecutive boundaries, RCB got 10 runs in the over. The third over started with singles and Pathiv ended it with a six. RCB were 26/1 after 3 overs. Parthiv Patel 17(11) and Virat Kohli 2(4) were at the crease.
Match Preview
Virat Kohli's RCB, which edged out Mumbai Indians by 14 runs in their previous game, will be eager to avenge their five-wicket defeat at M Chinnaswamy stadium at the hands of Chennai Super Kings earlier. CSK will be keen to swiftly get back into the winning mode after suffering two defeats in their last three games.
The yellow brigade seem to have settled down well in their adopted home, Pune, where they have lost only to Mumbai Indians since shifting base after their first game in Chennai. But that comprehensive eight-wicket defeat against MI on April 28 followed by a six-wicket hammering by Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday night revealed some chinks in the CSK armour, especially in bowling. The Chennai batsmen are on song and most are among runs with Ambati Rayudu, Australia's Shane Watson, West Indian Dwayne Bravo, skipper Dhoni and Suresh Raina contributing whenever the team has needed them to. Rayudu, especially, has batted well both as an opener and at number four, scoring 391 runs so far in IPL 2018. If CSK decide to continue with South African Faf Du Plessis and Watson at the top, Rayadu will again bat down the order. Dhoni, who remained unbeaten against Kolkata Knight Riders, has reminded his critics that he is not past his prime and if he hits those towering sixes again in today’s match, it will pose a danger to the RCB attack.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore too have some batting woes to overcome, as only Kohli has been performing consistently, amassing 449 runs in nine matches. But the return of AB de Villiers will strengthen the middle order as head coach said in the media briefing that ABD will play against CSK today. AB de Villiers has scored 280 runs in six games. These two batsmen are crucial to RCB's hopes. Manan Vohra and Brendon McCullum (122 runs in 5 games), who are yet to play to their potential, will also be expected to chip in. Even the likes of Mandeep Singh (204 runs in 8 matches) and Kiwi Colin de Grandhomme (45 runs in 3 matches) will need to get going if the CSK bowlers are to be tamed. RCB's primary headache has been their death bowling as they have leaked runs in this phase. Umesh Yadav (11 wickets) and Yuzvendra Chahal (7 wickets) have stamped their class, but Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sunder (four wickets) have performed below par. But the way Siraj bowled against Mumbai Indians at a crucial stage of the game might have given some confidence to the RCB management.
Scores of over 160 have been a regular phenomenon at the MCA stadium in Pune and with two strong batting line-ups squaring off, another high-scoring thriller may be on the cards today.
Here are a few things to know before the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (CSK vs RCB) match to be played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, the two teams' players who could prove handy, and who has said what before the clash:
AB de Villiers fit, de Kock to miss today's game, says Vettori: Royal Challengers Bangalore head coach Daniel Vettori said their star player AB de Villiers would play today’s match against Chennai Super Kings. However, de Villiers' compatriot Quinton De Kock has flown back home to attend a wedding. The RCB batting mainstay had missed last the two games due to viral fever. "AB is fit. Quinton is away from this game. He has returned home for a wedding. He's unavailable for this match. Easy decision for us to make," Vettori told reporters on the eve of the match.
What CSK head coach Fleming said after KKR’s match: Defending his players after the loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game here, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming said the team has performed well so far and changes are not required after just one bad game. Poor fielding and bowling let CSK down against KKR at the Eden Gardens. "We were exposed and I think sometimes it reflected on the bowling. Certainly, we were on the backfoot with some good fielders making mistakes, it hit down a little bit. Look, that can happen in a long tournamentÂ… It's not a great performance by any means but we have got hours rather than days to rectify. A loss just is a little slap on the face and hopefully it has not affected in day and half's time and there's still going to be hardwork," Fleming said.
What Virat Kohli said after victory over Mumbai Indians: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli said the win against Mumbai Indians was very important as the team desperately wanted a victory at this stage of IPL 2018. we needed that win. Very important win at such an important stage of the tournament. In the last couple of games, we were picking up. Tonight was an occasion we needed that two points. This is the push we needed," Kohli said.
What Australian veteran Mark Waugh said about RCB death bowling: Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh has attributed the poor performance of the Virat-Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing edition of the IPL to their death bowling. "Death bowling is a major area of concern for RCB currently as their bowlers are too expensive towards the end," Waugh, a Star Sports Select Dugout expert, was quoted as saying in a media release. "They have had chances to win games but they just can"t find the right set of combination in the last couple of overs which is affecting the team's results," added Waugh, who played 128 Tests for Australia and scored 8,029 runs.
Sloppy fielding and lacklustre bowling let Chennai Super Kings down against Kolkata Knight Riders but coach Stephen Fleming strongly backed the side, saying one bad game does not mean it's time for "chopping and changing" . One of the best fielders of Indian cricket, Ravindra Jadeja, dropped Sunil Narine twice on six, off KM Asif's successive deliveries. “We got to be careful that we don't get too carried away after one bad game where the bowling looked a little bit off. It's too easy to start chopping and changing after one bad game. Look those guys bowled us to a win in the last game. You just got be careful and not be too knee-jerk and make sure that you run the sequence long enough to see true form come through," Fleming said.
Crucial win over MI birthday gift to Anushka, said Virat Kohli: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has dedicated his side's much-needed win over Mumbai Indians in their last IPL game to his actress wife Anushka Sharma, who celebrated her 30th birthday. "We should take this confidence forward. My wife is here and it's her birthday. This was a little gift for her. It was very important to achieve these two points in front of her," Virat said.
Here is how CSK and RCB compared head to head in IPL matches played so far
Overall
Matches played: 21,
Chennai Super Kings won: 13,
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 7,
No Result: 1